Changed my mind about those expensive CRM setups after a mess last quarter

I was dead set against paying $150 a month for a CRM, thought we could just track leads in spreadsheets. After losing three potential contracts because my team forgot to follow up on quotes, I finally signed up for a simple one. Cost me about $1800 for the year but we closed two deals worth $12k last month from that follow up system alone. Still feels like a lot but the numbers don't lie. Has anyone else found a cheaper alternative that actually works for tracking B2B leads?

3 comments

3 Comments

jana8811mo ago

My sister runs a small real estate office and she uses Google Sheets with a simple script I wrote that sends her a text message every morning listing any leads that haven't been contacted in over 48 hours. Cost her nothing except the time to set it up, and she's been using it for about a year without any issues. If you don't mind spending a few hours learning basic formulas and maybe hiring a freelancer for 50 bucks to wire it up, that could save you a lot compared to those recurring fees. But for my own business, I'd rather pay the 150 and not have to worry about something breaking when we're busy.

dixon.james1mo ago

Man, I've been down this exact road before. @jana881 nailed it with the Google Sheets idea - I actually did something SIMILAR for my buddy who runs a handyman service. He just needed a daily list of jobs that were past due, and I spent maybe an hour setting it up with a free SMS gateway. The thing is, those cheap DIY solutions work GREAT until you're scaling up or get slammed. I've seen plenty of people save money for months then panic when a script breaks because Google changed something or their freelancer moved on. For a smaller operation that isn't growing fast, the DIY route is totally smart, but I get why your sister would rather pay the 150 for peace of mind during a busy quarter.

sagecooper1mo ago

You used to have me convinced but this actually makes a lot of sense.